tex ramblings...

Didn’t really think about type until 1994. Due to graduate studies, I was accumulating statistics books – mostly small and green (Chapman and Hall), big and yellow (Springer). Varied colors and sizes, but just one type. Light, clean, and nowhere on my PC. What was it?

The copyright page provided a clue: “Camera-ready copy from the author’s TeX files.” I naively and impulsively got VTeX and embarked on an odyssey of trial and error. Much error, and so I bought two books: Arvind Borde’s TeX by Example and Donald Knuth’s The TeXBook. The first was exactly what I needed – a guidebook containing code of varied complexity and length. Copy, change to suit, and correct. The second book – by the program’s author – made me laugh, left me awestruck, and provided a glimpse into the world of typography.

I learned that there were different flavors – plain TeX, LaTeX – and that it didn’t need to be bought. Right there for free on CTAN. With MiKTeX on the back end and WinEdt on the front, I could produce clean, mathematical copy. For me, at that time, TeX was more about logic and practicality than about typography.

Turned out I didn't yet know what typography was. But four summers later – hot and sleepless – my newborn son David needed to be held 24 hours a day. And I needed something to read during his intermittent slumber. It was Bringhurst; I read and reread, and learned about the art of typography. Much more than the mechanics of getting the right letter to appear on the page. To this day, my only truly dog-eared book. Own two copies.

Marrying Bringhurst and Knuth wasn’t easy. Transcending Computer Modern and incorporating PostScript fonts required Alan Hoenig’s TeX Unbound. Fontinst, pltotf, and vptovf, and I was using MathTime with everything from Adobe Garamond (the La Boheme of type?) to Scala. Incorporated text figures (j-option) and ligatures. Tried – and failed miserably – at Hoenig’s MathInst; cheated by simply changing the style file. But I had moved from typing to setting type.

All in all, I used TeX to set 10 papers in the neurosciences, several more in Devanagari and Greek with my wife for her work in the humanities, and countless variations on cover letters and resumes as I ventured out into the “real world.”

I still use TeX at work a little, but not so much any more at home; InDesign has made it all too easy. But when I have time, I try new bits of code. There is such power and economy to TeX – small, device-independent files, and not an extra penny to Mr Gates. Amazing things can be done with it – take a look at Don Hosek's work on Serif.

Have you thought about getting TeX going on your system? If so, but unsure of where to start, drop me a line. I’d be happy to help.

07-September 2002